Fowler students compete in junior Latin league convention

“I urge you, as much as I am able, to place friendship before all human things.”

Philosophized by Roman politician Cicero, those words served as the theme for the 2018 Massachusetts Junior Classical League Convention attended by Maynard’s Fowler School Latin Club on April 27-29.

During the jam-packed convention, held at Barnstable High School, students from Latin Chapters across Massachusetts engaged in enthusiastic and friendly competition aiming to promote and celebrate their passion for classical studies. Fowler School students — consisting of sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders nurtured under the guidance of their sponsor Monica Failla, Fowler’s sixth-grade Latin teacher — demonstrated their appreciation for ancient Greece and Rome in a variety of competitions, from the frenzied excitement of gladiator duels and chariot races, to the beautiful artistry of drama, sculpture and graphic art.

Students regaled judges in oratory and matched wits in Certamen, a classical-themed trivia battle royale. Fowler students, though small in stature and school and dwarfed by Latin titans such as Boston Latin School and Boston Latin Academy, spirited their way to a ninth-place finish out of the 16 schools and various at large classical enthusiasts in attendance.

Fowler school students won many accolades and awards for their efforts, both through their individual artistic creations and writings submitted for judging, and for their endeavors over the course of the weekend. Eighth-grader Grace Gilligan received top five finishes in both nonfiction writing and poetry, while also securing a second-place finish in English oratory, a three-minute speech performed for judges on the theme of “friendship.” Gilligan and seventh-grader Emma Donovan were two of the seven performers selected after a lengthy audition process to perform in the “That’s Entertainment!” dramatic arts competition — both bringing the audience to their feet through their singing and Irish step dancing.

Eighth-grader Claudia Severance secured a third-place finish in graphic arts for her artistic portrayal and study of animals and their Latin nomenclature. Severance also defeated all comers in the mile during Olympika, with fellow Fowler eighth-grader Grace Charron grabbing third place.

Donovan and fellow seventh-grader Tamsin Clark brought back to Maynard a 1-2 finish in the impromptu art competition, while eighth-grader Sophia Smith achieved a third-place finish, in addition to her own top-five finish in English oratory.

The Fowler School students, though tired from a schedule that kept them in constant movement form the moment they reached Barnstable on Friday afternoon, had plenty of energy left to have a strong finish on Sunday. After somehow finding themselves placed in the large school category for the spirit competition, the 26 students from Maynard in attendance managed to chant, scream, march and costume-up their way to a second-place finish. Fowler students also found themselves with their top-ever finish, in their third convention, in the “Worm” competition, as sixth-graders Lula Belle Solomon Rohr and Robert Garcia joined seventh-grader Hannah Waring and eighth-graders Michael Gifford and Fiona Brown in crouching, interlocking, slithering and sliding across the general assembly stage.

Solomon Rohr and sixth-grader Eli O’Toole also demonstrated great bravery in allowing themselves to be yanked and pulled in a makeshift chariot dubbed the “Deathtrap” by its own creators. Grace Charron, Claudia Severance, Fiona Brown and Gracie Gilligan somehow managed to pull O’Toole and the Deathtrap 100 yards and stay competitive in the race. Sixth-graders Harry Lenicheck, Alvaro Gonzalez, Owen Lilley and Brayden Burman decided “discretion is the better part of valor” and were content on making sure Lula Belle and the Deathtrap made it to the finish in one piece.

The Fowler Latin Club was able to celebrate one final achievement during the final general assembly, as eighth-grader and Fowler Chapter President Georgia Wilson was awarded the Marj Keeley Scholarship, one of three scholarship awarded, which will aide in her attendance to the National JCL Convention in Ohio this Summer.

The energy and excitement of the JCL Convention is something to see, and the students of the Fowler Latin Club left their hearts, voices and tears in all corners of the convention halls.